Tibetan / Vajrayana

Vajrayana Buddhism is most closely associated with Tibet and can be characterized by the figure of the siddha, the master whose spiritual realization is so profound that he or she has power over the phenomenal world, and in whom the profundity and vastness of absolute truth is fully and completely manifested. Many of our most well-known authors come from this tradition of Tibetan Buddhism .

[Note: The tags for the various schools are not definitive as many books span multiple traditions, etc. They are meant to use as a starting point for exploring this collection.]

Nagarjuna is famous in the West for his works not only on Madhyamaka but his poetic collection of praises, headed by In Praise of Dharmadhatu. This book explores the scope, contents, and significance of Nagarjuna's scriptural legacy in India… Read More

The Third Karmapa on Consciousness, Wisdom, and Buddha Nature

This superb collection of writings on buddha nature by the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje (1284–1339) focuses on the transition from ordinary deluded consciousness to enlightened wisdom, the characteristics of buddhahood, and a buddha's enlightened activity. Most of these materials… Read More

Feast for the Fortunate

Marked by eloquent poetry, vigorous and extensive analysi,s and heart instructions on breaking through the veils of confusion to independently experience the true nature of things, The Karmapa's Middle Way contains the Ninth Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje's comprehensive commentary on… Read More

Chapter Six of Chandrakirti's Entering the Middle Way with Commentary from the Eighth Karmapa Mikyo Dorje's CHariot of the Dagpo Kagyu Siddhas

Nagarjuna, in his seminal text, The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way, summarized the vast teachings of the Buddha and used logical reasoning to prove the validity of his words. Entering the Middle Way is Chandrakirti's explanation of Nagarjuna's… Read More

The most in-depth and famed text on Mahamudra ever written, The Ocean of Definitive Meaning by the Ninth Karmapa offers a detailed, uniquely comprehensive presentation. Thrangu Rinpoche has distilled the essence of the Ninth Karmapa’s massive text and gives guidance… Read More

Lucid Dreaming and Tibetan Dream Yoga for Insight and Transformation

Some of the greatest of life’s adventures can happen while you’re sound asleep. That’s the promise of lucid dreaming, which is the ability to alter your own dream reality any way you like simply by being aware of the fact… Read More

His Life and Vision

Chögyam Trungpa is virtually synonymous with the transmission of Tibetan Buddhism to the West. Over the course of his seventeen-year teaching career in North America, Trungpa ushered in a radically new approach to spirituality—both rooted in the ancient wisdom of… Read More

The Prajnaparamita Sutras, The Ornament of Clear Realization, and Its Commentaries in the Tibetan Kagyu Tradition (Volume 2)

The Abhisamayalamkara summarizes all the topics in the vast body of the Prajnaparamita Sutras. Resembling a zip-file, it comes to life only through its Indian and Tibetan commentaries. Together, these texts not only discuss the "hidden meaning" of the… Read More

A New Commentary on the Heart Sutra

The radical message of the Heart Sūtra, one of Buddhism's most famous texts, is a sweeping attack on everything we hold most dear: our troubles, the world as we know it, even the teachings of the Buddha himself. Several… Read More

The paradox of awareness is very profound and yet very simple. It can't be described because it has no objective qualities and no limitation. Sometimes it comes naturally to the surface when we are fully in the present moment and… Read More

A Tibetan Method for Cultivating Mind and Heart

In this society, with its hurly-burly pace demanding of our time, it is ever so easy to let life slip by. Looking back after ten, twenty, thirty, years—we wonder what we have really accomplished. The process of simply existing… Read More

The Odyssey of the Tibetan Masters with the Black Crown

Masters of esoteric knowledge and miraculous practices, the lineage of the Karmapas is the earliest of all the recognized incarnate lineages and is said to descend from the great Indian tantric master Tilopa through a chain that includes Naropa,… Read More

Teachings on the Ninth Karmapa's Text

At the heart of successful Mahamudra practice is the ability to understand the nature of mind. The Ninth Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje (1556–1603) was the acknowledged master of this approach. No more authoritative or useful instructions exist than in his… Read More

His Life and Teachings

Jamgön Mipam (1846–1912) is one of the most extraordinary figures in the history of Tibet. Monk, mystic, and brilliant philosopher, he shaped the trajectory of Tibetan Buddhism’s Nyingma school. This introduction provides a most concise entrée to… Read More

A Children's Parable

The All-Seeing Boy believed that there must be a way to make people happy. Then he met the mysterious hobo Jason Carper Esquire who taught him about the blue sky of happiness . . . and our inherent, somewhat magical… Read More